The laws that govern and the social norms that regulate society are not always fair, legal, moral, or ethical. What is a person to do about all this injustice? What are the hazards of righting injustices or changing social norms? And what are the dangers of doing nothing?

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and annotate Antigone, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and Pygmalion.
Students write a literary analysis showing the effect of social class or the law on a character’s life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do social class and legal institutions shape literary characters’ lives (and presumably our lives)?
How does social class affect a person in dealing with the law (protect a person, hurt a person)?
How is social class determined in America and in other places in the world?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, students continue reading, annotating, and discussing Antigone. Students will learn more about the Oedipus myth and consider a different perspective on the story.

In our lives, we are constantly telling stories to ourselves and to others in an attempt to both understand our experiences and present our best selves to others.  But how do we tell a story about ourselves that is both true and positive? How do we hold ourselves up in the best possible light, while still being honest about our struggles and our flaws? Students will explore ways of interpreting and portraying personal experiences.  They'll read Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart , analyzing the text through the eyes of one character. They'll get to know that character's flaws and strengths, and they'll tell part of the story from that character's perspective, doing their best to tell an honest tale that presents their character's best side. Then they'll explore their own stories, crafting a personal narrative about an important moment of learning in his or her life.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and analyze Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart , viewing the events and conflicts of the novel through the eyes of one of the central characters.
Students write a two-part narrative project: one narrative told through their character’s perspective and one personal narrative about an incident in their own life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do our conflicts shape and show our character?
How can we tell a story about ourselves that’s both honest and positive?
How do definitions of justice change depending on the culture you live in?
What are ways individuals can react to a changing world? To a community that doesn’t accept us?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

Does being part of a community mean that you accept the values and customs of that community? In this lesson, students will begin to analyze what they know about Umuofian society, and try to figure out how various characters feel about its customs.

What roles do men and women play in Umuofian society? How are expectations of husbands and wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, different from each other? In this lesson, students will examine gender roles and expectations in Umuofian society.Read the lesson and student content.Anticipate student difficulties and identify the differentiation options you will choose for working with your students.

TED Studies, created in collaboration with Wiley, are curated video collections — supplemented by rich educational materials — for students, educators and self-guided learners. In Climate Change, speakers give talks that boldly illuminate the nature and scale of current-day climate science, policy and ethics. They explore the economics and psychology of individual and collective action — or inaction — on climate change in order to assess the costs of our choices and opportunities for change. Relevant areas of interest, study and coursework include: ecology, atmospheric science, oceanography, glaciology, energy development, environmental policy, science in the media, political science, ethics, sociology, behavioral psychology and cultural studies.

Philosophers across many different ideologies argue that equality is an important human ideal. But what type of equality should we strive for? In this lecture, Professor Mark LeBar of Florida State University reviews four different kinds of equality and the obstacles in achieving them.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the algorithmic judgment at its core, is developing at breakneck speed. This version of the popular Ethics for Engineers course focuses on the ethics issues involved in the latest developments of computer science.

This lesson is intended to help guide children to respond to literature with an eye toward social justice.

This handout accompanies the lesson "Farmworkers and the Union." A Spanish version is included.

The four lessons in this unit explore different aspects of gender for today’s girls and women. Each lesson identifies barriers that limit girls’ and women’s opportunities and asks students to explore how those barriers can be dismantled.

In this lesson, students will use the case of Park51’s Islamic Cultural Center as a starting point for a discussion about whether religious freedom is absolute and if religious freedom requires respect for other religions.

Course instructional materials for EXP0050J Justice is the Best Medicine: Reimagining Healthcare and the Medical Industrial Complex first year seminar, Tufts University, Fall 2021. This syllabus includes weekly topics, assignments, and an overview of class activities. The class content is organized into four subtopics, which were referenced from Mia Mingus's graphic on the medical-industrial complex. The sources, which are all freely-available, include readings, video links, and resources which can be used in class.

Course description: Medicine, healthcare, and biomedical research have one paradox in common: they aim to heal, but they are embedded within systems of harm (termed the medical industrial complex) How can we begin to understand the products of racism, bio-colonialism, and ableism? What do movements for reform and abolition mean in the context of these systems? This course seeks to be an accessible exploration of these questions and how everyday actions encourage large-scale social change.

Increases in obesity and diet-related diseases are major health problems in the United States. During the last 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in the nation’s obesity rates, correlating with increased rates of cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, Type 2 diabetes, increased health-care costs, reduced quality of life and increased risk for premature death.

A vindictive Northern fantasy on the aftermath of the Civil War. Confederate president Jefferson Davis, dressed in a hoopskirt or crinoline, hangs from a "Sour Apple Tree" at left, a Bowie knife in one hand and a torn flag in the other. (For Davis's costume, see "The Chas-ed "Old Lady" of the C.S.A.," no. 1865-11; for the "sour apple tree," see "John Brown Exhibiting His Hangman," no. 1865-16.) Beneath Davis is an open grave from which peers the devil. At right nooses are suspended over the heads of several "Confederate Mourners" (left to right): Gen. Robert E. Lee, Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge, Secretary of State and War Judah P. Benjamin, one of the Southern "Fire-eaters" and member of the Confederate Senate William Lowndes Yancey, Georgian Robert A. Toombs, and Louis T. Wigfall. Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth (far right) rushes to join the group. On the ground lie copperheads (symbols of Peace Democrats), skulls, and broken artillery. The infamous Confederate prisons, Libby and Andersonville, can be seen in the distance. In the upper register the blindfolded figure of Justice, holding a sword and scales, is enthroned on a bank of clouds. At left Liberty sits beside an urn partially covered by the Union flag. An eagle is beside her. A grieving soldier and sailor attend the urn, while a slave man, his wife, and child look toward the far right, where the recently assassinated Abraham Lincoln is escorted heavenward by angels. |Designed by Burgoo Zac.|Entered . . . 1865 by Charles Porah . . . Ohio, Cincinnati.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 148.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1865-13.

An illustrated sheet music cover, for a march celebrating the election of Silas Wright as governor of New York. Wright, a popular and influential Democrat and Van Buren ally, was elected in November 1844. The march is dedicated to the new governor by its composer Oliver J. Shaw. The cover is adorned with an elaborately drawn arms of the state of New York. A shield shows the rising sun over a landscape with canal barges; below is the state motto "Excelsior." The shield is flanked by two classical figures: Justice (left) with scales and sword, and Hope holding an anchor and a scythe symbolizing agriculture. Above is an eagle holding arrows, olive branches, and a streamer reading "E Pluribus Unum" and below are olive and oak branches.|Entered . . . 1844 by Wm. H. Oakes.|For sale by E.H. Wade, 197 Washington St.|Thayer & Co's Lith. Boston.|The Library's copy of the music-sheet was deposited for copyright on December 24, 1844.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1844-49.

Students will learn what protest is through song and an image of historic protest in Oregon. They will also explore ways that people can speak out against injustice and what can lead to protest. 

In this lesson, students identify a change they’d like to see made at the school and come up with both “protest” or advocacy posters in support of this change, as well as talking points to use in advocating with the school principal or assistant principal. This lesson is to be followed by Lesson 5, during which they will present their case to the principal or assistant principal.

In this lesson, students take the talking points and posters they made in Lesson Four and present their case to the principal or assistant principal in a meeting. Students then debrief what happened during the meeting and what, if anything, they should do next.